On the Identity of Snapping Shrimp Described and Identified by W. N. Lockington, 1878
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Bull. Southern California Acad. Sci. 93(3), 1994, pp. 118-126 © Southern California Academy of Sciences, 1994 On the Identity of Snapping Shrimp Described and Identified by W. N. Lockington, 1878 Mary K. Wicksten Department of Biology, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77842 Abstract. — W. N. Lockington (1878) wrote the first key and guide to the snapping shrimp of North America. Many records came from the eastern Pacific Ocean, from California to Panama. His paper includes 10 species recognizable today, one record that probably includes more than one species under the same name, and reports and descriptions of another six species that are unrecognizable or questionable. The five species described as new by Lockington probably are var- iants of species that have been described since 1878; if so, Lockington's species names may be available as senior synonyms. The identities of some of these species are likely to remain uncertain because the original descriptions were brief and without illustrations, the types have been lost and the range of variation within most alpheid species is unknown. The first attempt to prepare a summary and key to the snapping shrimp (family Alpheidae) of North America was that of W. N. Lockington of the California Academy of Sciences. In 1878, he published "Remarks on some new Alphei, with a synopsis of North American Species," which presented 18 species. Most of these came from the Pacific Ocean, including the Gulf of California. The paper included species described by Lockington as well as others previously described by Say (1818) and Kingsley (1878a). Lockington considered all of the species to belong either to Alpheus or Betaeus. In comparing Lockington's account with modern works on alpheid shrimp, one is surprised by the small number of species. The modern reader should remember that extensive collections had yet to be made in much of the United States and Mexico. Like many curators of the time, Lockington relied upon amateur collec- tors and fishermen to send specimens to him for examination. The majority of the species known in 1878 were either intertidal species or shallow subtidal species that could be collected in holdfasts or rocks cast ashore after storms. As was customary at the time, Lockington presented brief descriptions of new species without illustrations. New species were compared with known species, with important morphological differences emphasized. The features presented by Lockington (1878) in many cases only allow the modern reader to determine the genus to which the animal belongs. Features such as presence or absence of epipods, shape of the dactyls of the walking legs, and many of the ridges, grooves and spines of the chelae were not included or were described in general terms. Although locations for the species were given, no type locality was designated if 118 IDENTITY OF SNAPPING SHRIMP 119 specimens came from more than one collecting site, nor was a particular specimen mentioned in the text as being a holotype. Lockington's type material was deposited at the California Academy of Sciences. A few duplicate or exchange specimens seem to have been sent to the Smithsonian Institution or European museums, but as yet, no alpheid specimens have been located. In 1906, almost all of the specimens of the Academy as well as much of the building housing them were destroyed by the fire following the major earth- quake in San Francisco. (See Bronson 1959 for an account of how a few of the Academy's specimens were rescued.) No invertebrate specimens are known to have been saved; indeed, being preserved in alcohol, the crustaceans probably were among the first specimens to catch fire. As part of an ongoing attempt to prepare a master species list of carideans of the tropical eastern Pacific Ocean, M. E. Hendrickx (Estacion Mazatlan, Universi- dad Autonoma de Mexico) and I have been examining historic records of shrimp of the area. Despite the uncertainty of identification of some of the species, the records given by Lockington are useful for comparison of modern and historic distributions of alpheid species. Kim and Abele (1988) considered five of Lock- ington's species of Alpheus to be valid, but noted that three of the supposed species were unreported since Lockington's report. However, most of Lockington's names have been ignored for over 50 years, and, if found to be senior synonyms of other names, could be suppressed (International Commission on Zoological Nomen- clature Article 79c, 1985). This paper provides the modern identification, when known, of Lockington's species of 1878 and attempts to identify the species that remain unrecognized. Methods In the account of the species, the name used by Lockington and the page on which it appears is provided, along with the localities as given in the paper of 1878. Localities are given in quotations if they are vague or questionable in the original text. However, Lockington himself was inconsistent in giving localities, giving localities as "Port Escondido, Gulf of California," which can be interpreted either as Port Escondido in the Gulf of California or Port Escondido as well as the rest of the Gulf of California. (Probably the former interpretation is correct.) Species described prior to 1878 and their current taxonomic status and known range are given first. Species described in the paper are discussed later, with clues to their current identification. Many of Lockington's specimens came from "Port Escondido" on the Gulf of California (now Puerto Escondido, Baja California Sur, Mexico; 25°50'N, 111°19'W). More recent collecting has been carried out there by the University of Southern California. I examined published records of alpheids collected at Puerto Escondido during the trips of the Velero III and later expeditions (Wicksten 1983; Kim and Abele 1988), as well as unpublished records in the card catalogue of the Hancock collections at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. The alpheids from these collections have not been completely identified to species and catalogued by station. However, the existing records give some indication of what species might occur there and therefore might be the same as some of Lockington's species. 120 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES Alpheid Species Reported by Lockington (1878) 1. Species Described Prior to 1878: Alpheus affinis Kingsley, 1878a: Panama (p. 476). Status: Now Alpheus normanni Kingsley, 1878b. (Alpheus affinis Kingsley, 1878a is a homonym of A. affinis Guise, 1854; see Kim and Abele 1988.) Western Atlantic Ocean from Virginia to Sao Paulo, Brazil and eastern Pacific Ocean from Gulf of California to Galapagos Islands (Kim and Abele 1988). Alpheus bellimanus Lockington, 1877a: San Diego (California) (p. 470). Status: Valid species; Monterey Bay, California to Galapagos Islands (Wick- sten 1983; Kim and Abele 1988). Alpheus clamator Lockington, 1877b: Santa Barbara "Islands," California and San Bartolme Bay, Baja California (p. 469). Status: Valid species; Dark Gulch, Mendocino County, California (T. Chess, U.S. National Marine Fisheries, personal communication, range extension) to San Bartholome Bay, Baja California Sur (Wicksten 1984). Alpheus cylindricus Kingsley, 1878a: Pearl Island, Bay of Panama (p. 478). Status: Valid species; eastern and western Atlantic Ocean from Islands of Principe, Sao Tome and Annobon; Bimini, Bahamas, Bermudas and Florida through Barbados to Bahia, Brazil; Rower Gardens Reefs off Texas; eastern Pacific Ocean from Gulf of California to Galapagos Islands (Kim and Abele 1988). Alpheus aequidactylus Lockington, 1877b: Monterey, California (p. 472). Status: Now Alpheopsis equidactylus; Monterey Bay to Cortez Bank, Cali- fornia (Wicksten 1984). Alpheus floridanus Kingsley, 1878a: Fort Jefferson, Florida (p. 476). Status: Valid species; eastern and western Atlantic Ocean from Guinea to Congo and Principe Island; Gulf of Mexico to Bahia, Brazil; eastern Pacific Ocean from Gulf of California to Ecuador (Kim and Abele 1988). Alpheus heterochaelis Say, 1818: La Paz, San Jose Island, Amortiguado Bay, Mulege Bay and Port Escondido, west side of Gulf of California; Magdalena Bay, Baja California (p. 475). Status: Although A. heterochaelis is a valid species, it is considered to inhabit only the western Atlantic (Christoffersen 1984). Remarks: Kim and Abele (1988) reported that records of A. heterochaelis from the eastern Pacific Ocean by Kingsley (1878a) and Rathbun (1900) in- cluded in part A. bouvieri A. Milne Edwards, 1878. However, it is unclear how they came to this identification, for they did not indicate that they examined the specimens on which the records of A. heterochaelis were based. Lockington's specimens may have included A. californiensis Holmes, 1900 which has been collected at Magdalena Bay, and other species of the "Edwardsi" group of Alpheus, which resemble A. heterochaelis. Lockington noted that his larger specimens "showed traces of a varied coloration," which suggests that he had more than one species. Alpheus minor Say, 1818: no locality given by Lockington (p. 472). Say reported it from the "coasts of the southern states, and of East Florida." Status: Now Synalpheus minus (Say, 1818); Bermuda and North Carolina to Alagoas, Brazil (Chace 1972). IDENTITY OF SNAPPING SHRIMP 121 Alpheus panamensis Kingsley, 1878a: Acajutla, "Central America" (now Pacific coast of El Salvador) and Panama (p. 473). Status: Valid species; eastern Pacific Ocean from Costa Rica to Peru (Kim and Abele 1988). Alpheus parvimanus Kingsley, 1878a: Panama (p. 477). Status: Identity unknown. Remarks: Kingsley's description suggests that the species belonged to the diverse "Edwardsi" group, but, other than mentioning that the larger chela had "a constriction of both margins posterior to the articulation of the dactylus," there are too few details to compare the shrimp with those described more recently. Alpheus sulcatus Kingsley, 1878a: Bay of Panama, Zorritas, Peru (p. 475). Kingsley did not designate a type locality. Status: Valid species; circumtropical except western Atlantic Ocean, eastern Pacific Ocean from Gulf of California to Peru (Wicksten 1983; Kim and Abele 1988).